Dive Brief:
- Amazon and a class of workers agreed to settle a lawsuit in which the workers alleged the company violated their rights under the Illinois Genetic Information Privacy Act by asking about their family medical histories, court documents filed in March and June show.
- According to the class-action lawsuit, filed in March 2023 in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, and later moved to an Illinois district court, Amazon required multiple applicants to submit to a pre-employment physical, during which it “indirectly or directly solicited, requested, or required” them to disclose their family medical histories (Thompson, et al. v. Amazon).
- Illinois has especially strong legal protections governing workers’ bodily rights, with employers like Walmart and Topgolf also coming under fire under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.
Dive Insight:
The three original plaintiffs in the lawsuit were all hired by Amazon in 2021 or 2022 to work at three different fulfillment centers in Illinois. All described the same process of submitting to a pre-employment physical and being either directly or indirectly asked to supply their family medical histories.
All disclosed genetic information, including conditions of family members, and said they were not told by Amazon not to do so.
Per the complaint, plaintiffs believed Amazon collected the information “as part of an effort to avoid risk and/or liability for workplace injuries and/or deaths caused by genetic conditions, including but not limited to hypertension, cancer, heart conditions, diabetes and stroke, that Defendants [believe] could be inherited and that could be exacerbated by workplace conditions, especially if these conditions are high-stress and/or physically demanding.”
In a later amended complaint, a plaintiff said he had “attended an interview with Amazon employees where he was asked about his family medical history, including questions about whether anyone in his immediate family suffered from mental disorders, cancer, diabetes, etc.”
The class included all those who applied for or worked for Amazon in Illinois within five years before the lawsuit’s filing and from whom Amazon obtained genetic information in connection with their application or employment.
The terms of the settlement have not been publicly disclosed. In a court document filed in response to workers’ complaints, however, Amazon denied the allegations. The company also told HR Dive it does not collect genetic information or family medical histories from hourly employees who work at operations sites.
Employers should be aware of both the state and federal laws that govern employees’ genetic and biometric information. On the national level, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act prohibits employers from discriminating against workers on the basis of genetic information and from requesting genetic information. Attorneys advise employers to not collect such information and update medical forms to explicitly ask workers not to supply it.
Many state laws also overlap with and go beyond GINA. The Illinois Genetic Information Privacy Act prohibits genetic testing and the collection of family medical histories, while the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act prohibits the collection of biometric information — including retina or iris scans, fingerprints, voice prints, hand scans, facial geometry and DNA — without an explanation of the purpose and the worker’s written consent.
